"Oh, it's starting," Feng Mian pointed out, causing all of our gazes to focus on the temple below and the horde of students about to charge into it.

"YOU'RE DONE FOR TODAY, CLASS B!" The male student by Si Ye's side roared and led the rest of his class into battle.

Out from the gates of temple came Class B's own students, firing spells and wielding sharp weapons. Of course, the sharpness of these weapons would hardly be useful considering killing was prohibited, but they could still be used as a threat, I suppose.

"Prepare your spells," Long Lu commanded as the two forces clashed down below. "Remember, no lethal ones, unless you want to get expelled from the school! And target Class C only!"

The part about no lethal ones is a bit of a tall order. For me and Mei Gui, anyway.

Luckily, the two of us managed to slip by without casting any spells, since everyone else was too focused on trying to score takedown points.

"Ha! This is the best feeling ever!" A student cheered as he launched a torrent of water downhill, crashing into the students down below. The look of surprise on their faces when they were swept away was priceless.

The students from Class C, who had just been fighting Class B, didn't even consider looking up, and instead just assumed the attack was from Class B. This only served to spur them onto fight even fiercer, and the war grew more intense by the second.

"They don't even know they're getting third-partied…" Feng Mian murmured pitifully as she aimed her hand down below and cast a poison bubble of some sort that surrounded Class C's forces. Most managed to get out due to the spell being purposely weak, but some still fell unconscious in it. I eyed Feng Mian's wristwatch and saw the numbers go up.

"… Hold on," I murmured as the other students of our class continued to launch attacks down below.

"What's wrong, Xuan Kai?" Yu An Yan asked in concern, having just created a mini-thunderstorm that could paralyze but not kill.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but… Class B's leader hasn't even shown his face yet, has he?"

"Nope. I haven't seen him," Qing Yue replied.

"Me neither," Lan Xiao Su added. "Only his lackey."

I sighed. "… As expected. That guy… he's dangerous."

"What…?" The girls turned to me in confusion, but there was no time to explain right now.

"You guys stay here, continue to do your thing. I have something I need to check on."

"Eh? Xuwan Kwai, where are you gowing??" Amane asked innocently, throwing a rock down below for fun and actually knocking someone out.

"… Don't worry about it."

*****

After discretely leaving the rest of the class, I headed to Class D's abandoned base with my dark cloak worn over my uniform, hood over my head, and mask over my face — the same setup I had last night when infiltrating Class C's Base. I looked up and decided to climb onto a tree in front of the temple's entrance, silently awaiting my prey.

It didn't take long for him to come.

"… Xu Lian."

Hearing my voice, the boy stopped in his tracks and looked up at me.

"Ah. It's you, from last night."

Jumping down from the tree and landing directly in front of him, I adjusted my hood and mask so he had no idea who I was.

"How did you see me back then?"

"Hm… let's just say I've been blessed with a special power. Any more information will cost you, friend."

"How much?"

His smile darkened. "An arm and a leg, of course."

"… What are you doing here?"

"My, so many questions… shouldn't you remove your mask before asking me all these? It's hardly polite to be interrogating me without even revealing your own identity. I know you're also a fellow student at this school, but… who?"

"I'm a Class D student," I replied calmly. "Names are hardly important. You're here to steal my class's flags, I presume?"

"As a matter of fact, no. I mean, clearly, this place is so well-guarded, why would I ever dream of stealing from you just by myself?" He taunted, spreading his arms. He already realized something was off with Class D, hence why he came here to investigate. And indeed, his guess had been on the mark — no one was here to defend.

He was being sarcastic, of course, but I decided to play along.

"In that case, what's your reason in coming here?"

"To propose a deal."

"A deal? With me? I'm not the class rep, just so you know."

"Oh, I'm aware. But sometimes… the leader on the surface isn't really the leader. You know what I mean."

Tch… this guy is annoying to deal with.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Is that so? Well, fine. Relay this message to your class rep for me, then." He cleared his throat formally before continuing. "I know you were allied with Class A for the first exam, but now that they've taken first, continuing to help them in this one would create too big of a gap between the classes. Your class, Class D, will be dumped sooner or later. That's why… I propose you work with Class B instead."

So… he deduced we're working with Class A. Not bad, not bad at all. But unfortunately… he still wasn't able to see my true plan.

"I see. I'll be sure to let the class rep know…"

Space — Eliminate.

"… After getting rid of you."

In an instant, I appeared behind Xu Lian, Chaos katanas summoned and rested on the back of his neck. The ominous black and red energy radiating from it burned on his skin, but he didn't move.

"… What are you trying to do?" He asked calmly, which surprised me a bit. He wasn't frightened in the least, despite the situation.

"If you think just because killing is disallowed in this exam, I won't do it… you're horribly wrong," I threatened.

"Oh, is that so? Well then, go ahead."

I laughed. "Sure. But just so you know… there are plenty of things worse than death out there."

I lifted my katana up and prepared to slice down. Xu Lian realized what I was trying to do, but it was too late.

I brought the blade down… and struck the back his neck with the hilt.

Xu Lian was knocked out cold, falling to the floor. I took off my hood and mask.

"… Hm. That was easier than expected… almost… too easy."

"Bravo, bravo!" Xu Lian's familiar voice suddenly laughed. But the most ominous thing… was that it came from the clearly unconscious body in front of me.

"… What in the world…"

"So this is who the mastermind controlling Class D is, huh? I will take great note."

And as the body began to fade away, I realized — it was an illusion.

"Consider my proposal carefully… Xuan Kai."

My eyes widened.

He knows my name…? How? Did he memorize the entire list of students in every class paired with face, or did he just overhear someone else calling me that back on campus…?

I dematerialized my Chaos katanas and took a deep breath. I got completely outplayed.

This could've been easily avoided if I just used Third Eye, but I never thought he was a Shadow Magic user — after all, he didn't use Shadow Magic during the four-way duel between class reps before the first exam.

… I need to eliminate him before this exam ends. Otherwise, he could prove to be troublesome once we head back. Obviously, I can't kill him, so there's only one other option: control.

I headed back to the rest of the class after that. Once I arrived, the battle had already ended with a tie. Class B's defenses were just about to break, but Class C didn't have enough people left to charge in. Therefore, both sides retreated, but the male student barked something about being back tonight to finish this.

Luckily, the Class A students we sent in to Class C's Base already returned with flags in hand. Little did Xu Lian know, him going to Class D's base to investigate in fact played right into my hand. This way, Class C will hate Class B even more — they'll think it was Xu Lian who stole the flags, since he hadn't shown up at all during the battle.

I may have miscalculated a little and let him discover my true identity, but the fight wasn't over yet. In the end, victory would be mine, and Xu Lian would become another one of my pawns. Class B… would also fall under my control.

I wonder… should I wipe his memory as well, just in case he ever tries fighting back? Yeah, I think that would be good.

Class A was now in the lead in terms of flags, with 25 in total — 10 from Class D, 10 from Class C, and 5 from themselves. Meanwhile, Class D and C both had none, and Class B had their meager 5. We were on a direct course to victory, but there was still plenty of time left in this exam.

Anything could happen — and we needed to be ready.